


The Acorn

by QuillOfFortune



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Author Angst Over Battle of the Five Armies, Basically canon with a few of my own thoughts of how things should have gone, Battle of the Five Armies Spoilers, Character Death, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Spoilers, The Acorn, Unbetaed Emotional Writing, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 00:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2793185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillOfFortune/pseuds/QuillOfFortune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo's thoughts during the Battle of the Five Armies and afterwards from an alternative universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Acorn

_“And you’ve carried it all this way.”_

 

It was a relief to see the madness that had taken place upon Thorin’s face and in his heart suddenly fall aside to show the man Bilbo had pledged his service to at the beginning of this adventure, and all because one tiny acorn that served as a truth to hide a lie. A betrayal.

 

The space between Bilbo’s ribs felt tight and the ( _bloody, accursed, damned_ ) Arkenstone weighed heavier in his pocket than before. The feeling abated a bit as Thorin’s lips spread into a smile upon hearing what he planned to do with the small acorn he had carried in his pocket from Beorn’s garden. Of how he hoped to see it grow to keep his memories of this journey and its joys and hardships, and of the company he had. Of Thorin.

 

“A true and worthy token, Master Baggins,” Came Thorin’s response after a moment, his eyes locked on the acorn still sat in Bilbo’s hand. An odd look passed over his face and for a moment Bilbo feared he had lost his friend once again to the madness that had simply lain dormant up to this point. “Are you so eager then, to head back to your hole in the ground?”

 

_He knows, he must if he does not already suspect. I am an open book._ Bilbo thought as he steeled himself for the accusation that he was sure was to come. Then again, Thorin had yet to see the openness of his emotions in other matters, so perhaps his betrayal was a secret yet.

 

He put off whatever was to come with his response.

 

_“_ Well it is not a kingdom under a mountain, but despite being a simple hole in the ground it is home. Gold it may not possess, but it does have my chair by the fire place and my books. And my kin, for what they are worth.”  Bilbo kept his tone light and teasing till the end as he too stared down at the cargo he had carried, his thoughts drifting to what his cousins must have done with his possession’s by now, especially Lobelia Sackville Baggins with her quick fingers.

 

He redirected his gaze to look at the dwarf he had come to admire ( _love_ ) before him, a soft and morose smile tilting up his lips.

“Though, I do believe I will miss you lot. We’ve been through quite a bit together, it’s hard to believe that we’ve done it and that our adventure is over.”

 

Thorin went still after Bilbo’s admittance, and was quiet for a good long while studying the hobbit before him. If Bilbo did not know any better, he would think that Thorin was trying to gather his courage to speak. As it were, he only hopped that this Thorin, his Thorin, would stay with him for a bit longer and that they could simply stay like this looking at each other, as if under a spell.

 

The quiet was broken as Thorin opened his mouth.

 

“Perhaps you need not return to the Shire to plant your acorn,” A warm look was alight in Thorin’s eyes, thawing the ice that had been present in them as he spoke, his voice sure though his thought’s were obviously jumbled as he tried to convey them. “Perhaps it could be- you could- if you were to consider-”

 

The thought was interrupted as news came of the movement outside the mountain’s gates, and with those words all warmth drained from Thorin’s eyes, freezing Bilbo to the core.

 

The acorn returned to his pocket next to the Arkenstone, forgotten along with the conversation that had taken place.

 ---

 

_“One of them is false.”_

 

The ice that had frozen Thorin’s heart became a blizzard as he revealed his suspicions of his kin’s betrayal to Bilbo.

 

The kin he had valued and trusted above all, now viewed as nothing better than thieves and liars to this ice king that had taken over Thorin’s countenance.

 

Not even as he spoke of Bilbo’s friendship to him did the storm cease, instead it swirled around as if Bilbo was in the center of the storm that resided inside the king’s head.

 

It was during this conversation that the idea was born and the thought of what he was about to do froze him far more than Thorin’s gaze ever could.

 

There was only one way that this madness could end.

 

\---

 

_Stubborn, brutish, daft, stupid **dwarves**_ **.** Bilbo thought as he rushed down the side of the mountain precariously, towards the city of ruins where the people of Lake-town and the elves had taken up camp.

 

Sneaking past the legions of elves and men was ridiculously easy and from their getting an audience with the King and Bard was equally so.

 

The final threshold of his betrayal however, giving the one item Thorin currently held above all, above kin, was not.

 

But, as his fingers brushed up against the acorn he still held within his pocket as he withdrew the cursed stone gave him resolve in his mission as threw the Arkenstone onto the table in front of him.

 

If all thoughts of honor had left Thorin, then Bilbo would simply need to have enough honor for the both of them.

 

He had to, to save his dwarves.

\---

 

Standing on the wall as Thranduil and Bard came to wager with the King Under the Mountain, Bilbo felt more hope than he had in days.

 

His hope however slowly died as ( _stubborn, handsome, foolish_ ) Thorin steadily refused to believe that the Heart of the Mountain was before him in the hands of his enemies.

 

And it shattered as he finally admitted to what he had been keeping from Thorin and what he had done.

 

Thorin’s icy expression disappeared, but its replacement of pure hatred broke Bilbo’s heart far more than Thorin’s madness ever had.

 

And just like that, Bilbo Baggins was banished from Erebor.

 

\---

 

_“The Eagles have come.”_

 

Bilbo’s eyes had fluttered open, his head pounding along with the wings of the Eagles that soared overhead. Reinforcements had arrived, and those still left with their lives may just yet survive this.

 

Those still left with their lives.

 

This thought had Bilbo scrambling to his feet with the realization that while he had been knocked out all those he held dear ( _loved_ ) could be dead.

Frantically looking about, he could have shouted for joy when he spotted Thorin standing atop the frozen waterfall, Azog the Defiler dead near his feet. But all joy left him as he watched Thorin fall.

 

_No, no, no, nonononnononononnonononononononononnono, NO!_

 

He raced across the terrain, mindlessly stepping over the bodies of orcs and goblins.

 

“Thorin!”

 

Bilbo rushed to his side and barely had a thought in his head as his mindlessly babbled about how he was going to be fine, how he was going to _live_. Babbling that only increased as Thorin started apologizing and acting as though he were giving his final words.

 

“Hush now, and forgive me my final greed, My One.” Thorin said with a sad smile, bringing up his hand to cup Bilbo’s cheek gently and guiding him down until their lips softly touched. Drawing back after a moment, with Thorin’s hand still encompassing his cheek and stroking it with his thumb unconsciously, all Bilbo could do was stare at Thorin’s smile that was not unlike the one that he had seen when discussing the acorn he still kept in his pocket.

 

_“Farewell, Master Burglar. Go back to your books, your fireplace. Plant your trees, watch them grow. If more of us valued home above gold, it would be a merrier world.”_  

 

With those final rasping words, Thorin Oakenshield was gone, seemingly sucking all the joy of the world with him.

 

\---

 

The Shire was far too quiet a place after all he had been through, especially after he had reacquired all of his auctioned off furniture. It left him far too much time with his thoughts for his liking and he took to writing them all down simply to get them out of his head.

 

It was not for many weeks after settling back into his hobbit hole when he was rearranging his clothes that he rediscovered the acorn hidden away in the inside pocket of his Lake-town coat.

 

Bilbo stared at it blankly before putting it into his pocket and heading outside with his gardening tools.

 

After the shallow hole was dug, far enough away from the house that the roots would not bother the foundation but close enough to see from his window, he took the acorn from his pocket and held it at eye level in front of his face before delivering a quick kiss to its shell and plopping it into the ground.

 

For many a year after that he sat at his writing desk in front of his window, watching as the seed he had carried grew and grew, and he remembered.

 

He remembered Gandalf and his unexpected call to adventure when he got a knock on his door one evening informing him of the untimely deaths of his cousins and the child they had left behind.

 

He remembered Kili and Fili with their unruly pranks and manners as he scolded young Merry and Pippin.

 

He remembered everything, every day, in all the little things around him.

 

He remembered still, even as an old man on his death bed, having taken an acorn shell from the tree that stood out front when he made his journey to Rivendell, and when Bilbo Baggins passed on from the world of mortals he did so with a smile knowing in the afterlife it was not just memories he would have.

 

_“Thorin!”_

_“Bilbo.”_

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for taking your time to read this drabble of mine. I apologize for any mistakes as they are all mine as this piece was unbeta'ed and written when I was emotional right after watching the Battle of the Five Armies. I own nothing of the Hobbit or its characters, though it is fun to take them and put them into different situations. 
> 
> Also: The text in quotes and italics are direct quotes, in case anyone was wondering.


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